Functional Training

As the name suggests, functional training deals with training people in the light of their daily tasks. Tasks may be daily activities such as moving furniture, carrying bags or children, or driving. They may involve hobbies such as biking, hiking, or climbing, or they can be occupation-related such as with police officers, firemen, or warehouse workers. Functional training is also very much related with sports activities. With the wide variety of activities that people engage into, functional training requires that it be designed specifically to the needs of every client.

Rehabilitation and physical therapy are often related to functional training. In fact, a number of sources indicate that functional training had its roots in rehabilitating patients who suffered disability due to disease or injury. Doctors and therapists work with their patients and families to determine what activities are meaningful for the patient and then try to determine which of these are realistically achievable. Sometimes, rehabilitation training is also provided to the elderly or for those who have just recovered from a long-term illness. A primary concern especially among the elderly is their capacity to perform their activities of daily living (ADL’s) without assistance. They develop exercises that closely resemble the activities that the patient does at home or at work. The overarching goal of functional training in rehabilitation is to maximize the patient’s functional independence at home and at work without causing possible re-injury in the future.

Functional training is very beneficial among sportsmen and among physically-demanding occupations. In fact, a number of gyms and personal trainers provide functional training that are geared towards improving occupational performance as well as training to avoid injury. They custom-design the training regimen depending upon the physical demands of the client’s occupation or sport. However, whatever the occupation or sport is, trainers consider various factors that affect performance such as power, agility, cardiovascular conditioning, skill requirement, and genetic potential. Based on these, trainers choose equipment that is best suited for the client. Exercise machines are usually not used as they rarely engage whole muscle groups, stabilizers, and peripheral muscles during exercise. Trainers prefer equipment that can be used to help mimic the natural movement patterns such as free weights, cable machines, exercise balls, resistance tubes, wobble or rocker boards, suspension systems, and others. There are also some more innovative trainers, which instead of using standard equipment, use day-to-day materials for training or may use as little equipment as possible, relying on what is readily available such as the natural terrain or fixtures in the area. Most of the time, the quality of training does not depend on the equipment but more on the creativity of the trainers in maximizing the exercise area or materials available.

The advantage of functional training resides in its emphasis in mimicking and emphasizing the body’s natural ability to move along the 6 degrees of freedom. This recruits not just a single muscle group but also the other muscle groups that support a specific movement. For example, carrying a dumbbell not only strengthens the biceps and wrist muscles. Various muscles that support the entire arm such as the chest, rotator cuff muscles, and truck stabilizers all work in unison to ensure that the arm is stable and the trunk erect during movement. In 2009, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that compared to fixed variable training techniques (machine exercises), functional training resulted in 58% greater increase in strength, 196% improvement in balance, and 30% decrease in joint pain among the test subjects.

Developing the optimal functional training regimen can be very complex. Trainers play an integral part in developing individualized and integrated functional training programs. When employed correctly, functional training programs can be very effective in achieving the needs and goals of each client.

If you're after functional training, come and join our Caveman Circuit Training classes or get your own program designed by one of our personal trainers.

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